Bronze and Gold
by altairattorney
Summary: It is time to begin again. - Fourteen short drabbles, one for each PSN achievement.


**Bronze and Gold**

_Threshold_

Flight is a challenge of happiness; he won't let it go. Every time the wind wraps his robes, he almost believes it will never rest, and his voice mingles with the air like you would hold your best friend's hand. It takes him a heartbeat to touch the sky with his scarf and finally land, full of life, on top of the bridge. Just then he remembers he should have built it before. He chirps in joy – a playful triumph he dedicates himself.

_Mirage_

Their breath falls in the sand when they see it. A miracle of the desert opens to them; it is fresh and bright in its bubble of life, hearkening to their call when they sing.  
The secrets of this desert are the same as their souls, and mirrored in them. A flower grown in silence still wishes to share life – they answer in joy and stand side by side, watching in awe.

_Explore_

They are creatures of one kind, and his little friends know. He dances with them in the wind, all through its depths, embraced by the sparks of joy they send him. With them in your company, you would never fall. Still, when he watches them – them and himself, come from the same bundle of light and cloth – he is surprised at how diverse their shapes can be.

_Adventure_

These golden dunes are the warmest tomb a town can have. He slides and sees it clearly in his heart – how the song of sand came down from the sky, tempting and lifeless, to soothe wisdom and choke those overworked lives. Still, not everything has surrendered to the golden river; the doors still remain, and crossing them feels like a whisper from the past.

_Trials_

The monsters are different. They come from a world of outer feelings, a world which was never there before. Your times and places belonged to them first, however – this truth cannot be changed. It must be fled. Then, right when he feels his wings fall, new rays rise from the earth. Then, he knows he is safe. He greets his hope, reborn after a corridor of nightmares.

_Ancestors_

Water is the flow of all living beings – it bears their essence, their emotions and their memories. The room is circular but vast; it looks even brighter now, full of liquid. As their song echoes among the columns, a rawer, welcoming voice befriends them from the ancient times. Its magic leaves a deep mark – and now, before entering the snow, they embrace and dream together of alabaster bones.

_History_

Grand memories lie beneath their feet; as gold paints their shapes, an unknown strength makes the air quiver all around. Truths are told in these drawings of light – every image is a word of warning, a call of wisdom. Their ancestors belonged to another kin; as they go on, however, they find their destiny is just the same. It all ends in the cold of ice, with the same travellers and the one place everyone has to come back to.

_Crossing_

Every dawn brings one of them, but two arrive to the sunset. Their double joy is the deepest of secrets, and it changes through the roads; they sing when they find each other, they keep close in silence when they fade. Their running back through the night is silent too – they shine, without any words to be said. They are one and the same.

_Rebirth_

No desert treasure is brighter than the mountain top. Its call is haunting and boundless, it never fades from their scenery. What expects them they do not know, but they have faith – they do not need to wonder where it comes from. The mountain brings them life and death, peace and storms. The mountain sees and loves all of them – it gives them a thousand second chances, so that they can rise again forever.

_Companion_

A whole life flows through their eyes in the moment they meet. Their goal never changes, but they do; each time leaves a new mark on their soul, and before starting anew they sit together. Nothing exists but the other and his warmth. Then their four feet leave behind one trail, and they lean on each other for the rest of eternity. They will never make it alone again.

_Reflection_

Infinity is close to them, and has ever different faces to show. He contemplates the silences inside and outside, as his friend, sitting right by him, gets lost in the same mists of thought. Their minds fly in one direction, looking for something to show them the way. They still cannot reach for one another in the abyss of their minds; but they are patient. There is no haste in this journey.

_Wonder_

When he awoke, he was a grain of sand among thousands of others. Now his steps have moved on, and he is yet another creature in the eyes of this world; he is not alone anymore, so that he can become someone else. They call out to him, show symbols for him, being guides and friends and companions at the same time. He finds them as fast as he loses them; but he is never alone, and his chest keeps shining with the mark of his own being. The truth makes him happy. There are so many of them – and of him.

_Return_

A shooting star has ridden through the universe tonight. It has seen the growth of time and space, mapped the constellations to find new paths; it has marked the night of this Earth to throw a shard of brightness, to enlighten the hearts of tired journeyers. But his cloth is shaken by the wind, and his rest has already been long. It is time to begin again.

_Transcendence_

This was a dream in gold and white – the cloth wrapped him in a mirage, as the air kissed his robes and donated them its colour. But dreams fade, this colour doesn't. He can change over and over again, and every time he feels lighter. His new scarf is strong as the wind, his cloak bears the decorations of wisdom. He jumps to try his renewed wings, welcoming the colour of the sky in himself.

* * *

Original date of publication: 29th June 2012. It is necessary to know what the achievements are about for the drabbles to make sense.


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